Hatrack River Writers Workshop   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Open Discussions About Writing » Dream sequences

   
Author Topic: Dream sequences
TheoPhileo
Member
Member # 1914

 - posted      Profile for TheoPhileo   Email TheoPhileo         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
[OSC] hates dream sequences because real dreams have no author. In stories they are cheap way to add sub-text.

I agree completely. And yet I still use them, because, darn it, sometimes you need some way to say important sub-text that doesn't fit in the plot.

Is there a better answer? Should dreams in fiction be avoided altogether?

(SIDENOTE: In a WIP of mine, the protagonist has some limited ability to control time... I'm actually considering using dreams as a method of revealing to both him and the reader events from the distant past... Do you think this falls into the same category as "dream sequences?")


Posts: 292 | Registered: Feb 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
ChrisOwens
Member
Member # 1955

 - posted      Profile for ChrisOwens   Email ChrisOwens         Edit/Delete Post 
I've lots of dream sequences in my WIP. Of course, in it, dreams are another plane of reality...
Posts: 1275 | Registered: Mar 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
wbriggs
Member
Member # 2267

 - posted      Profile for wbriggs   Email wbriggs         Edit/Delete Post 
I'd need the OSC quote in context. That said, I have only done dream sequences in one work, and then they weren't really dreams, they were visions, for people who consider visions to be very, very important.
Posts: 2830 | Registered: Dec 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
DragonfireEast
Member
Member # 2498

 - posted      Profile for DragonfireEast   Email DragonfireEast         Edit/Delete Post 

OSC might have said he didn't like dream sequences...but he also said that there are no rules, and that you are in charge of your own writtings. If you want dream sequences in your writing then go right ahead, but be carefull with them, and remember that you pay a price by using them. You just need to decide if the price is worth it.

Posts: 45 | Registered: Apr 2005  | Report this post to a Moderator
Spaceman
New Member
Member # 9240

 - posted      Profile for Spaceman           Edit/Delete Post 
Also, he was looking over the outline of my novel and mentioned to me that he didn't like dream sequences, but then he said, "But these advance the plot...Don't send it to Ed Baen."

[This message has been edited by Spaceman (edited July 01, 2005).]


Posts: 2 | Registered: Aug 2010  | Report this post to a Moderator
dpatridge
Member
Member # 2208

 - posted      Profile for dpatridge   Email dpatridge         Edit/Delete Post 
I wrote one story where the entire story was a dream sequence written into a Journal... It worked ok for me, although it was a bit of a task to edit.
Posts: 477 | Registered: Oct 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
Lullaby Lady
Member
Member # 1840

 - posted      Profile for Lullaby Lady   Email Lullaby Lady         Edit/Delete Post 
I have a WIP where the heroine spends a lot of time in dreams. However, it's more of a "dream world" since the story has a lot to do with the "Fair Folk," who were said to live in the land of dreams.

Then again, I'm also a big believer in real dreams being very symbolic-- at times. I have stupid, senseless dreams like anyone else, but I've also had some really inspiring ones that helped me in my life.

The Freudian explanation of dreams is something else entirely different, IMHO...

~LL


Posts: 212 | Registered: Dec 2003  | Report this post to a Moderator
calavari
Member
Member # 2631

 - posted      Profile for calavari   Email calavari         Edit/Delete Post 
He may hate dream sequences, but he's used them too in a book where dreams were an important part of the culture.
It all depends on the story and what the dream is there for.

Posts: 10 | Registered: Jun 2005  | Report this post to a Moderator
autumnmuse
Member
Member # 2136

 - posted      Profile for autumnmuse   Email autumnmuse         Edit/Delete Post 
OSC breaks all his own rules, all the time. He talks about it in Maps in a Mirror:

"I simply have a perverse streak in me that says that whenever somebody lays down a law, that law is meant to be broken--even when I was the lawgiver."

And in the next paragraph:

"This doesn't mean that I think the law I stated isn't true. In fact, I stand by it as firmly as ever. It's just that, like all laws, this one can be circumvented if you work hard enough."


Posts: 818 | Registered: Aug 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, Card uses dream sequences all the time. I think he uses at least one in every novel, not just the ones where the milieu allows prophetic or otherwise "meaningful" dreams.

He's just against using them in an unrealistic manner that doesn't fit into the story. In real life, when a dream is important, you know that while you're awake. Or at least, you remember the dream and think about it.


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2